The Summer and Winter Solstice Spiritual Meaning
You don’t have to look very far into the histories of different civilizations to see where worshiping the Sun or performing Sun rituals played a major role. In this article, we will be exploring the summer light and winter solstice spiritual meaning.
To do this we will explore the role it played in ancient times, we’ll then look at the summer solstice spiritual meaning followed by the winter solstice spiritual meaning before finally looking at how you can make the most out of these events.
To begin with, we’ll take a quick look at what exactly the solstice is.
Table of Contents
- The Solstice
- Ancient Cultures
- Winter Solstice Spiritual Meaning
- Summer Solstice Meaning
- Solstice Light and Darkness
The Solstice
In simple terms, the significance of summer solstice is that it is the longest day of the year (in terms of daylight) and marks the beginning of the shortening of the days. The winter solstice is the polar opposite and while being the shortest day of the year, marks the start of the days growing longer.
The two solstices occur on December 21st and June 21st. Whether it is a winter solstice or summer solstice depends on which hemisphere you are in. June 21st is the summer solstice in the Northern hemisphere while being the winter solstice in the Southern hemisphere.
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Ancient Cultures
We can usually tell the importance of an event, particularly a spiritual one, by how long it has existed and through how many cultures have acknowledged it.
Many ancient cultures that we often view as savages often had a deep understanding of astronomy and spirituality. Take Ancient Egypt for example, they viewed there as being a divine connection between the winter solstice and creation itself.
As such, they built the Karnak Temple Complex (the largest of its kind in the world), which allows for a spectacular alignment at sunrise on the winter solstice. Of course, it’s not the only one of its kind.
Temples in Ireland that existed thousands of years before the birth of Jesus have been built in such a manner that during the winter solstice, the sunrise lines up perfectly with a crucifix built into the inner chamber.
The Pagans often celebrated the winter solstice as it marked the turning of the tides and the beginning of the slow road to summer. Even within Christianity, we have nods to the winter solstice’s spiritual meaning.
Jesus himself was born during the time of the winter solstice. The son (or sun) of God who would herald in a new age. It’s speculated that most religions have events that match up with events involving the sun which is why there is often a spiritual meaning of summer solstice or winter solstice events.
Winter Solstice Spiritual Meaning
When we look at the winter solstice spiritual meaning, we find that one word stands out over all others: HOPE.
Even though we understand how the solar cycles work and have a greater understanding of the ancient civilizations that viewed winter as potentially never-ending, we still have hope that the darkness will end and the light will begin.
This also works as a metaphor for life. In life, we often have to accept the darkness, whether it be darkness within ourselves, friends, family, or just the world in general. We have to accept it but we always hold onto the hope that one way or another the light will shine once again.
Summer Solstice Meaning
The summer solstice is of course very different from the winter solstice spiritual meaning; although it isn’t quite a polar opposite. During the summer solstice, we embrace the influx of natural and powerful solar energy.
We also have a heightened level of Earthly energy while our hemisphere absorbs and irradiates more and more energy from the sun.
We see this all around us through all the new life that is enjoying the world having just been birthed in the previous few months. Bees, butterflies, lambs, birds, animals everywhere come out as if to soak up this energy.
This marks a time for celebration and you find that this is true for everyone. Whether spiritual or not, people can’t help but organize parties, bonfires, trips out into nature, or just gatherings with friends and family.
Everyone exudes positive energy and as they do so, they allow for others to do the same whether they are conscious of it or not.
During this time of year, negative energy is forced into the shadows and that is why summer seems to be such a happy time of year.
Solstice Light and Darkness
You may now be wondering what spiritual steps you can take during these events. The answers are surprisingly simple. Using the significance of the summer solstice, you can simply go out and enjoy yourself.
Bask in the solstice light and receive all the natural and abundant energy. You can meditate outside or simply take walks through forests or fields, swim in rivers, or reach the top of mountains.
Whatever you do, make sure you enjoy it and take note of all your positive feelings. From a spiritual standpoint, it can be incredibly beneficial to keep a mood journal of all your positive and happy days around the time of the summer solstice because the days are about to start getting shorter.
The reason why a journal such as this can be incredibly beneficial is that it works as an anchor. In winter, when the nights are long and the sunlight is cold, you often need help to embrace the winter solstice’s spiritual meaning.
As we mentioned earlier, the primary meaning is hope. By having a journal to look back on, you can mentally relive those days around the summer solstice and reignite the energy you received.
It also allows you to have hope if you didn’t already as you know what lies around the corner and you don’t have to worry that the winter might never come to an end.
Darkness doesn’t have to be scary, it can be tranquil and peaceful. Make use of this to meditate.